


All We Do

by fillorianprincess



Category: The Magicians (TV), The Magicians - Lev Grossman
Genre: Drinking, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, I think Alice is a little more outgoing than usual, Magic, Soft Girlfriends, let them be happy, queliot mentions, they're college age
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-21
Updated: 2019-05-21
Packaged: 2020-02-29 08:09:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18774667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fillorianprincess/pseuds/fillorianprincess
Summary: An exploration of Alice and Julia's relationship in some other timeline.





	All We Do

It was three-thirty in the afternoon when Alice Quinn leaned her head back against the deep brown mahogany wall of the Physical Kids Cottage. Her azure eyes gently flickered closed while she huffed out a tired sigh. This was her first true moment of rest since she had arrived at Brakebills. Days filled with signing paperwork and moving into her new room had thoroughly bored her to the point of exhaustion. However, Alice was one of the lucky ones. She didn’t have to worry about all the measures that went into hiding a magical eduction from family members the way some of her peers did. Her parents were magicians too and they knew her intents when she set out to find the school. It was barely surprising when Alice called from Dean Fogg’s office to explain her sudden acceptance. In fact, it would’ve been more surprising if she were unsuccessful. Yes, she was one of the lucky ones. 

The first few days at Brakebills passed quickly as Alice was on her feet nonstop. On the first day, a full tour of the school, which was conducted by Eliot, and an assessment of her potential discipline left her wiped out by six that evening. Alice had placed into Physical Magic with the preliminary test and was to move into the Cottage as soon possible. This particular day felt equally tedious and as unexciting as all the others so far until her fellow Physical Kids swarmed around her. Alice had met them all by this point and was very good with remembering names. Quentin, who she’d met in her tour group by chance, plopped down next to her in one of the antique chairs around a very large, sturdy table. 

“Um.. Hey, Alice.. I’ve invited Margo and Eliot to come with me to the city tonight and was wondering if maybe you’d want to come too? It’s my childhood friend’s birthday and I know you don’t know her but.. Maybe you’d just want to hang out and get some drinks with these two.” Quentin nodded in the direction of Margo and Eliot. “We can all just bar hop afterwords or something. It’s more exciting than being stuck here all night.” He smiled at Alice a little awkwardly, hoping she’d say yes. Alice had opened her eyes and sat up straight about halfway through Quentin’s very drawn out invitation. Though she gave him credit since she knew she would’ve been equally awkward in that situation. Honestly, it was doubtful that she would’ve asked at all. Alice tucked a strand of soft, blonde hair behind her ear. 

“But I’m not twenty-one..” Alice said meekly, looking up at the others. 

“Oh, honey,” Margo said and petted softly at Alice’s hair, the hair she’d just tucked behind her ears, “let go a little! You take everything so seriously! We’ll enchant the IDs. It’s not hard, you know that.” Alice felt babied by Margo, which made her feel both infuriated and appreciative of the attention. A lifetime of feeling invisible would do that to a girl. 

“Well.. I guess I’ll attempt to have some fun for a change.. I’m in.” The blonde stuck her nose in the air, feeling quite proud of herself for breaking out of her shell a bit. 

“Oh, please!” Eliot chuckled “Attempt to have fun? You can’t party with me and not have a good time. I guarantee you a good time, or like.. I’ll make you a cocktail and you won’t remember if it was a good time or not by morning anyways.” He looked at Margo the way he did exclusively with her and then bumbled up the stairs to get ready for the night out. Quentin thanked the girls and followed after him. Alice mentally noted that moment.

“Okay, girlie, we’re going up to my room to find you something to wear because it sure as hell isn’t going to be anything you own. You have too many features worth showing off to go to a party in this smock lookin’ thing.” Margo picked at the edge of Alice’s knee length grey dress. It had a high neck but did it really look as conservative as Margo made it sound? Either way, Alice figured Margo knew what she was talking about when it came to fashion and wasn’t going to argue with her. Margo pulled Alice up from her seat and dragged the girl to her room. Once again, the attention just felt nice. 

Almost an hour and a half had passed since the group first headed upstairs and the finishing touches were being done to everyone’s outfits. The girls were dolled up in all black, their dresses skin tight, cut down to here and up to there, and the boys looked charming in their button downs. Eliot had obviously chosen Quentin’s outfit. Margo had done the same for Alice, but she also insisted on loosely curling Alice’s hair and doing her makeup far darker than usual.

“I look like a raccoon!” Alice giggled and made Margo soften the smokey eye look.

“You do not! And we don’t have all day, just put on the heels and then I’ll fix it.” Margo was typically the one who took forever to get ready. She usually spent ages curling her long locks of rich chestnut colored hair, but she skipped that part this time and left them naturally wavy. Plus, her own makeup from the day was pretty much fine, it just needed touchups and darker lipstick. 

Within another half hour they’d enchanted all their IDs and were through the portal to the city. A short cab ride was all it took to reach the venue of Julia’s birthday party. They soon arrived at the top floor of the building and made their way inside the neon lit room with blaring music. Alice felt shaky and she couldn’t tell if it was because she was excited or nervous. And, if it was nerves, was it from doing something potentially risky like faking her age? For what? Drinks? Not like she was that far from twenty-one anyways. Still, the idea of doing anything that could affect her time at Brakebills negatively shook her deeply. After all she’d done to get in, she’d do anything to stay. Yet there she was, accepting a short glass of some clear concoction with a lemon wedge stuck on the rim from Eliot. He’d made his way over to the bar as soon as he spotted it and ordered each person what he thought they would like best. Alice stood and stared at it for a second, and then she deduced that Brakebills had far larger issues to be concerned with than kids trying to drink. She tentatively took a small sip of whatever that liquid was and scrunched her nose at the taste. 

Alice spent a long while sitting at a table in the corner with Margo and Eliot since they didn’t know anyone else at the party and couldn’t be bothered to mingle. The group danced for a bit at the beginning, but Quentin eventually vanished and the girls’ heels were starting to make their feet ache so they sat down. The blonde managed to drink about half of her fruity, too-strong cocktail before she began feeling flushed. She announced that she wanted to step outside for some fresh air and Margo replied that they’d still be at the table if she needed anything. The crisp, almost-autumn air began to flood over her as she approached the cracked open doorway. The blush red that was already in her checks drifted to her nose as the cold nipped at it. She felt less dizzy already; the chill sobered her.

Through the crack of the doorway, Alice spotted Quentin sitting on a battered oak table with a brunette girl. The outside area of that top floor seemed amiss compared to the technicolor expanse indoors. Quentin sat right next to her, their legs touching, but his voice cold and she looked heartbroken. “Why would she stay if he’s talking to her like that?” Alice thought to herself. The only explanation her half tipsy mind could extrapolate was that the girl cared about him enough to listen, even if it hurt. That girl must be Julia. 

Alice stuck close to the inside edge of the doorway so she wouldn’t be spotted by the pair outside. She wanted to see what was going on but didn’t quite have the nerve to intrude or inquire, even though the intoxication loosened her usual reserved attitude. 

“It’s just sparks, a party trick..” Quentin began to get up, empty glass in hand, a few minutes later. 

“Q, you’re the only person I can tell! And you can help me.. Please.” Julia’s lip quivered and Alice could tell it wasn’t just from shivering in the cold, although she was. Quentin opened his mouth but the words died on his tongue. He marched his way to the door and pulled it fully open, allowing a gust of bitter air to tumble inside. Alice managed to stay outside his line of sight by stepping into a crowd of strangers. She hadn’t heard everything, their voices were muffled by the din of the city below, but she’d heard enough to know this Julia must have some kind of magic. Little sparks were still light. Little sparks were part of the same ancient energy in Alice’s blood. In that moment, she felt intoxicated all over again.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there! Thank you for reading! This is my first full fic and first time posting on ao3 so please bear with me as I figure out the system haha. Also, a big thank you to Maddy for beta reading!!


End file.
